Today, September 29, the Catholic Church honours Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. This year the feast coincides with a Monday, a day under the Moon, consecrated to Mary and marked by the voice of Gabriel. The coincidence draws the memory of the angels into the rhythm of the week; it is as if the lunar and Marian presence magnifies the mystery of the Annunciation and ties it to the liturgical remembrance of all three.
The Archangels are living forms of the primordial elements described in the Sefer Yetzirah by the three mother letters in Hebrew: Shin, Mem, and Aleph. Fire, Water, and Air stand at the origin of creation, whereas Earth emerges only afterwards, shaped as clay by their action. When we contemplate the Archangels on this day, we recognise that they embody the same principles as those letters; they are the forces of Divine formation, angels of Briah, the world of creation, where the elements are conceived as Spiritual realities before they descend into Assiah, the material plane.
I. Fire and the Letter Shin – ש
Michael is fire, the flaming sword, the power of Shin. His name is a question that pierces through deception. Fire is the Logos that awakens the dead, the trumpet blast of the Apocalypse, mirrored in the Major Arcana XX – The Judgement. Shin is drawn as three flames rising from one root; it is the form of combustion, division, and purification. The zodiacal triplicity of fire reflects this same mystery. In Aries, the ascending blaze, the first light of the horizon, the fire rises. In Leo, the joy of the fifth house, the house of fortune, the fire shines in its sovereign radiance. In Sagittarius, the ninth house, the house of God, the fire shoots its arrow upwards in the direction of ultimate Spiritual meaning.
These three flames of the zodiac mirror the three heads of Shin and reveal the cosmic domain of Michael. He is more than a warrior in battle, he is the fire of Divine intellect shaping the world, consuming shadows, and raising the soul to judgement. When Shin breathes through the Apocalypse, it is Michael who wields it, awakening what slept and summoning what is hidden to stand before God. The clay of earth, when touched by Shin, hardens in form yet glows with life; it is made vessel through fire.
II. Water and the Letter Mem – מ
Gabriel is water, the silent flood, the power of Mem. His name is the force of God that bends to announce and to conceive. The Moon is his sphere, Yesod is his dwelling, and the Arcana XII – The Hanged Man shows his mystery of reversal. Mem is shaped like a closed womb, containing within itself the secret of life. Water descends and collects; it also inverts the order of things. The zodiacal triplicity of water shows this descent. In Cancer, the fourth house, the nadir of the sky, water gathers in the root of memory and ancestry. In Scorpio, the eighth house, the place of inactivity, water submerges what is known and brings the ordeal of death. In Pisces, the twelfth house, the one of the cacodaimon, water dissolves in exile and Spiritual combat.
These three movements of water reveal the lunar matrix of Gabriel. He does not speak with fire but with depth; his words are drops that fall and change the soil from within. When we celebrate Gabriel, we honour the power of water to conceive the Word in Mary, to hold the Logos in a womb of silence, and to teach the soul the paradox of surrender. The clay of earth, when touched by Mem, becomes pliable; it softens, opens, and receives the imprint of form.
III. Air and the Letter Aleph – א
Raphael is air, the first breath, the power of Aleph. His name is the healing of God, as the breath itself is cure. Aleph is drawn as the crossing of diagonal arms, the ox of silent force, the invisible motion of Ruach that bears the yoke of the world. In the Tarot he is mirrored in the Major Arcana 0 – The Fool, the wanderer who steps into the unknown with only breath as guide. Air is the matrix of sound and Spirit. The zodiacal triplicity of air shows this motion. In Libra, the seventh house, the descendant, air relates and balances, meeting the Other. In Aquarius, the eleventh house, the one of the good daimon, air joins community and vision. In Gemini, the third house, the dwelling of the Goddess, air moves in speech and exchange.
These three faces of air reveal the mercurial domain of Raphael, since his element is a wandering one, always joining and carrying. In the Tree of Life he abides in Hod, the sphere of Mercury, where knowledge and articulation weave the net of meaning. When we honour Raphael, we acknowledge that the divine cure is the very breath that animates the body. The clay of earth, when touched by Aleph, is lifted; it is no longer mute matter but becomes a vessel of Spirit.
In the Kabbalistic doctrine of the four worlds, Briah is the world of creation, standing between Atziluth, the world of emanation, and Yetzirah, the world of formation. Briah belongs precisely to the element of air, as it is the realm where Spirit moves with freedom but remains close to its source. It is the breath of God shaping intelligible forms before they descend into images and bodies. The Archangels are at home in Briah, since their nature is to transmit Divine force into creation without severing it from its origin.
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